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What is Asterisk?

Asterisk is an open source, free soft switch/soft PBX system for managing all manner of telephony needs. It is produced by Digium (http://www.digium.com/) as a method of marketing their telephony hardware. The Foundation is currently investigating using it as a conferencing solution.

Asterisk Conference Server

An installation of Asterisk exists on asterisk.eclipse.org configured by default to work as a conferencing bridge.

Currently, to connect to the server clients are required to use an Internet Protocol-based softphone. In the future POTS (regular telephone) access could be provided on a cost basis. This page contains information on downloading and configuring the simplest of the available clients for use with the Foundation's Asterisk conferencing server.

Asterisk Client Setup

In order to connect to the Asterisk conferencing system you will need either a SIP or an IAX protocol client. IAX has a protocol advantage over SIP in that it automatically handles Network Address Translation (NAT) configuration. Since nearly all Internet users pass through a NAT gateway on their way to the Internet, we will focus on IAX. There are several usable IAX client but the most mature and simplest of these to use and set up is the IAX client Idefisk which is available from http://www.asteriskguru.com/idefisk/free . This client is available on Linux, Win32, and MacOSX. The screenshots below are from Win32 but the appearance and configuration are nearly exactly the same on all platforms and the defaults are usually correct.

Here's how to make your first call to the Eclipse Foundation's asterisk conference server:

On Windows, right click the Idefisk icon (man with a headset) and select 'Create Shortcut'. Move the new shortcut to the desktop

Launch Idefisk by clicking on the icon

When presented with the following screen, select "Skip and go to manual configuration," then click "Next"

You will then see a screen like this, and you will just press "OK"

That's it for the setup! To make a call, enter 'asterisk.eclipse.org' in the "Phone to dial" text box like this, and then press the little phone icon (highlighted in red):

When you are connected you will be asked for a conference number. In order to enter the conference number you will need the phone number pad (DTMF pad) which you can cause to appear by pressing the little sideways arrow highlighted in this shot:

In order to test your client, we'll connect to a test conference. The conference number is "8976" and the PIN is "12345". If you successfully connect to the conference then everything is in order!

Troubleshooting Asterisk Clients

The most common problems occuring in Asterisk client setups are the following:

Symptom:I don't hear any audio.

Cause: Sound may be disabled. Can you play any other sounds on your system?

Cause: Networking equipment is blocking your audio connection. Does the client show that you are connected?

Symptom:I can't connect to the server

Cause: Check that you have entered the address correctly.

Cause: Check that you are able to connect to the Internet with your web browser.